Skip to main content

TL;DR

The Broken Stick Triangle: A canonical quantitative trading interview question at intermediate difficulty. Commonly asked at Jane Street, Citadel, Two Sigma, DE Shaw.

By Valenke Exam Prep Team·Last updated 2026-06-01
intermediateGeometric Probability

The Broken Stick Triangle

Asked at: Jane Street, Citadel, Two Sigma, DE Shaw

Problem
A stick of length 1 is broken at two points chosen uniformly at random. What is the probability that the three pieces can form a triangle?
Related concepts

Ready to practice for the Valenke Finance Exam?

Adaptive practice powered by Item Response Theory targets your weak areas. Start with 3 free sessions.

Start free practice →